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Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
An aerial view of tsunami damage in Tōhoku
An aerial view of the Sendai region with black smoke coming from the Nippon Oil refinery
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami is located in Japan
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Tokyo
Tokyo
Sendai
Sendai
Date March 11, 2011; 5 years ago (2011-03-11)
Origin time 14:46:24 JST (UTC+09:00)
Duration 6 minutes
Magnitude 9.0–9.1 Mw
Depth 29 km (18 mi)
Epicenter 38°19′19″N 142°22′08″E / 38.322°N 142.369°E / 38.322; 142.369Coordinates: 38°19′19″N 142°22′08″E / 38.322°N 142.369°E / 38.322; 142.369
Type Megathrust
Areas affected Japan (shaking, tsunami)
Pacific Rim (tsunami)
Total damage Tsunami wave, flooding, landslides, fires, building and infrastructure damage, nuclear incidents including radiation releases
Max. intensity IX (Violent)
Peak acceleration 2.99 g
Tsunami Up to 40.5 m (133 ft)
in Miyako, Iwate, Tōhoku
Landslides Yes
Foreshocks List of foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Aftershocks 11,450 (as of 3 March 2015)
Casualties 15,894 deaths,
6,152 injured,
2,562 people missing

The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku (東北地方太平洋沖地震 Tōhoku-chihō Taiheiyō Oki Jishin?) was a magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on Friday 11 March 2011, with the epicentre approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku and the hypocenter at an underwater depth of approximately 29 km (18 mi). The earthquake is also often referred to in Japan as the Great East Japan earthquake (東日本大震災 Higashi nihon daishinsai?) and also known as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, and the 3.11 earthquake. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to have hit Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, traveled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. The earthquake moved Honshu (the main island of Japan) 2.4 m (8 ft) east, shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in), and generated infrasound waves detected in perturbations of the low-orbiting GOCE satellite.


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